


Training Pains

by kibahshi



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Banter, Crushes, Drabble, F/M, Mutual Pining, POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-29 16:15:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5134091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibahshi/pseuds/kibahshi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Robin told them that having them learn different skills would prepare them for any situation that they faced but even with his usual foresight and with how Kjelle knew he tried to emulate the tactician, it seemed that some things still happened to pass him by.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Training Pains

**Author's Note:**

> "Do you... well... I mean... I could give you a massage?" Laurent/Kjelle (as request on tumblr, from[ this prompt collection!)](http://kibbleal.tumblr.com/post/120764987840/send-me-a-pairing-and-a-number-and-ill-write-you)
> 
> Laurent is written with Kellam as his father! Fic contains spoilers for his supports with father and has references to his supports with Kejlle!
> 
> (Finally moving my fic from tumblr to over here as well!)

“It was my fault, really.” He started, smiling faintly as his fingers delicately took the bread Kjelle offered, ripping off a good sized piece before setting it down on the platter between them. “For someone who monitors you all as closely as I do, I hadn’t expected, nor do I understand how something of such primary knowledge could slip past my own defenses so easily.”

“I do,” Kjelle dunked her piece of bread into the evening’s stew before biting off the dampened chunk, setting it at the edge of her plate as she chewed. “You’re a newbie. Why our tactician promoted you to such a physical position, I’ll never know.”

That was a lie, really. She knew, and understood and _certainly_ did so better than the others along the front lines. While powerful, she knew well how mobility was hindered in heavy robes worn by the other’s usual class, and understood how fragile those robes made him. There was no protection supplied by them, and why their mages didn’t wear armor similar to Robin’s was beyond her. It was functional, and it made them mobile but armor was “expensive”… even if the role Laurent now bore wore enough armor to rival what she herself had wore just prior to becoming a general.

“I suppose… But the role of a dark knight is a crucial one. It supplies both magical and physical prowess—”

“One of which you don’t _have_ because you’re a _stringbean—_ ”

“And I’m honored to undertake it.” He smiled and Kjelle scoffed, feeling as though she was hunched over her food in contrast to his prim posture. Even in the weight of his remaining armor- much of it having been removed so he could sit and eat without it getting in the way- his posture was as precise as it had been as when he had been armored in cloth and it was nothing short of impressive… but there was a shift in the set of his shoulders; an unevenness that stood out sharply and one Kjelle knew had to be uncomfortable with the way he had been wincing as of late.

“You _still_ made a rookie mistake.” She said, muttering as she brought a potato filled spoonful to her mouth. Laurent chuckled softly, nodding as he tore more of his bread, spooning the contents of his stew onto it. Watching and chewing, she frowned, eyes narrowing at the offending shoulder and how much closer it was drawn to his jaw than the other. “What did you _do,_ anyways?”

“I struck from the shoulder rather than allowing the power to come from my back…” His lips twisted faintly in distaste. “I am afraid that however easy it is for me to observe others and aid them in remedying their mistakes, I fear I haven’t quite mastered the art of swordplay, nor have I gotten used to actively wielding a blade enough to remedy _mine;_ it is much easier in theory to _practice_ proper techniques than to properly _implement_ them when your life potentially hangs in the balance.” Watching him take a bite, she hid her smile around another mouthful of bread when he cringed, face scrunching. His features soon relaxed and he sent a queasy smile her way. “Although I wonder some days; is it easier to learn how to use a sword or is it easier to get used to the taste of bear?”

She laughed; at how soft such a reaction and admittance made him seem and how endearing it was of him. It made it feel like it was how they were before, back when they were of the same age, before he’d been left alone for so long and left victim to the desert sands and winds for so much of it. She wasn’t certain if he’d spent his entire time there, between unaligned oases or the wastes of Plegia but upon seeing him again, his skin had indeed looked weathered from more than just stress, even if that wide-brimmed hat of his sheltered his pale skin and red hair from darkening and bleaching beneath the sun’s rays. 

(He was the spitting image of his mother; slender and pale and at times she envied him. To be so unquestionably his mother’s son. She’d inherited parts of her face from her mother but side by side, it was only their mannerisms that distinguished them as more than just fellow knights, while it was Laurent and his father’s mannerisms that did them just the same honor.)

“For someone who lived off fish and vegetables in the desert for years, I think you’re responding admirably…” Her smile faltered, lips tugging into a faint scowl. “But you really need to learn to take your own advice sometimes. Otherwise? You won’t keep up.”

With the way his features fell, the way his brow knitted where it was- for once- exposed from beneath his hat, she feared she’d struck a nerve bringing up his time of solitude, feared her brusqueness… but his smile soon returned, and his features became the closest to what she assumed implied sheepishness. He chuckled softly and his tone made the feeling all the clearer. “I am afraid that I do require you to specify more clearly, Kjelle. I fear I give advice far too often to remember everything I say.”

Tension fled her even as she let herself scowl again, this time crookedly. “That pain I got. That twinge that one time. You said I should get a massage.”

“And you did, yes.”

She nodded, shrugging. “Yeah, well… It was good advice and I think you should take it.”

Laurent blinked at her. Blinked, then frowned, tucking a strand of freed hair back over his scalp. “I… fear I wouldn’t feel right spending my money on that, Kjelle… Nor seeing one of our healers. With the amount of troubles we face I would prefer I leave them unhindered and untasked as much as possible…”

Of course. Of _course_ he was going to be stubborn. She should have known, but…

Kjelle sucked in a breath through her nose, one so deep that it left her chest feeling tight beneath her breastplate. “Well… You don’t have to see _them,_ you know. Or pay anyone. I mean, I… Oh, _hells…_ ” The dark knight looked up from where he’d briefly returned to eating, ever respectful. She tried again but found that only a stutter of noise came out. She rested a hand against her brow in her frustration.

“Kjelle?” Laurent asked softly, his tone- gentled with concern and patience, patience for some stupid girl who couldn’t even get her feelings, much less a simple _offer_ out- sending her face heating.

“I’m just _saying,_ ” she ventured, wetting her palate where it suddenly felt dryer than dirt. “Do you…well…I mean..” She sighed heavier, rubbing her brow and waving a hand this way and that.“… _ **I**_ could give you a massage..?” She cleared her throat, coughing into her fist. “If you wanted.”

Laurent was silent, but any fear brewing in the back of her mind was abated when she saw the wideness of his eyes, much less the color along his own cheeks. It practically stretched to his ears, making it look as though the red of his hair bled out into his skin like ink on damp parchment.

“Well?” She said gruffly, coughing again. “Are you going to say something or are you just going to mimic a _tomato_ all evening?” Her words seemed to shock him from whatever reverie in which he’d been encaptured and he brought a hand to his own mouth, shaking his head. The light glinted off his glasses from where he’d ducked his head and hand propped it up and she cringed slightly when the glare got in her eyes.

“M-My apologies. I meant no disrespect. You merely… Caught me off guard…” He rubbed at his cheek, as though it would coax the color blooming there away. “But… If you would be so kind I imagine I would be deeply appreciative… I think you would know better what to look for than I.”

Kjelle scoffed, trying to not pay focus too much on his smile- brighter and more honest no matter it’s slightness- nor the way it was hard to keep one off her own face. “Of course I would. _I’m_ not the newbie here.”


End file.
